The mayor of Jacksonville is the chief executive for the city of Jacksonville, Florida, and the administrator of Duval County. Jacksonville currently utilizes the strong mayor form of government in which the mayor currently has significant powers compared to the Jacksonville City Council. Ever since the land consolidation of Jacksonville as early as the late 19th century with the rest of Duval County, Florida the mayor was considered the administrator over the entire county, with the further consolidation in 1968 the mayor's office officially serves as the executive administrator for the county. The incumbent is Donna Deegan, who was elected in the 2023 election.

History The first mayor of Jacksonville, William J. Mills, was elected in 1832. A new city charter in 1841 changed the titled to "Intendant" until 1859 when it was changed back to mayor. The information on mayors of Jacksonville from 1832 to 1848 is limited, mostly due to the Great Fire of 1901 which destroyed some of the city's records. Most of the information available today was taken from newspapers published during the period.

There was no election for mayor in 1840, nor during the Civil War in 1862, 1863, and 1864. During the Reconstruction era, mayoral elections resumed but the position had no real power, with the city being administered by the United States Military. There was no set amount of time in which one person can stay as mayor.

On May 31, 1887, the city instituted a new charter, annexing several suburbs, including LaVilla, Springfield, Riverside, Brooklyn, East Jacksonville, and Fairfield. The mayor's term of office was also increased from one year to two. The mayor serving at the time, John Quincy Burbridge, had been elected on April 8 of that year, but the new charter required a new election to be held. On December 13, 1887, another election was held and Charles Bristol Smith, a Republican, won with support from members of the city's large African American community. After this, local Democrats petitioned the Florida State Legislature to change the city charter once again in an effort to curb Republican and black participation in local politics. The result was that direct election of mayors in the city was abolished from 1889 until 1893. Mayors during this period were elected by the city council, who were appointed by the governor of Florida.

The city's charter changed several times over the next several decades, and additional areas were annexed, expanding the city limits. The biggest change to local government, however, was the Jacksonville Consolidation, which took effect on October 1, 1968. In this measure, the Duval County and City of Jacksonville governments were consolidated, expanding the city limits to include almost the entire county. Mayor Hans Tanzler had just taken office on June 23, 1967; however, consolidation meant that he would have to run again for the office of mayor for the newly consolidated city government. Tanzler was re-elected and took office on March 1, 1968. Since that time mayors have been elected every four years. Voters in 1991 approved a two-term limit for Duval constitutional officers.

Mayors of Jacksonville, Florida The following is a list of mayors of Jacksonville:

Pre-Civil War mayors # Mayor Took office Left office 1 William J. Mills 1832 1835 2 Unknown 1835 1838 3 Stephen Eddy 1839 1840 4 None 18401841

Intendant period # Name Took office Left office 1 Unknown 1841 1844 2 Obediah Congar 1844 1845 3 Unknown 1845 1846 4 Joseph B. Lancaster 1846 1847 5 Oliver Wood 1847 1848 6 Unknown 1848 1849 7 Rodney Dorman 1849 1850 8 J. McRobert Baker 1850 1851 9 Rodney Dorman 1851 1852 10 Henry D. Holland 1852 1853 11 Isaac Swart 1853 1854 12 F. C. Barrett 1854 1855 13 Philip Fraser 1855 1856 14 F. I. Wheaton 1856 1857 15 George C. Gibbs 1856 1857 16 John S. Murdock 1858 1859

Pre-Civil War mayors revived # Name Took office Left office 1 Holmes Steele 1859 1860 2 Halstead H. Hoeg 1861 1862

There were no elections held in 1862, 1863, and 1864.

Pre-consolidation mayors # Name Took office Left office Party 1 Halstead H. Hoeg 1865 1866 Democratic 2 Holmes Steele 1866 1867 Democratic 3 John Clark 1867 1868 Democratic 4 Edward Hopkins 1868 1870 Democratic 5 Peter Jones 1870 1873 Republican 6 J. C. Greeley 1873 1874 Republican 7 Peter Jones 1874 1876 Republican 8 Luther McConihe 1876 1877 Democratic 9 W. Stokes Boyd 1877 1878 Democratic 10 Luther McConihe 1878 1879 Democratic 11 Peter Jones 1879 1880 Republican 12 J. Ramsey Dey 1880 1881 Republican 13 Morris A. Dzialynski 1881 1883 Democratic 14 William McLaw Dancy 1883 1885 Democratic 15 Marshall.C. Rice 1885 1886 Democratic 16 Patrick McQuaid 1886 1887 Democratic 17 John Quincy Burbridge 1887 1887 Democratic 18 Charles Bristol Smith 1887 1888 Republican 19 Patrick McQuaid 1888 1891 Democratic 20 Henry Robinson 1891 1893 Democratic 21 Duncan U. Fletcher 1893 1895 Democratic 22 William M. Bostwick 1895 1897 Democratic 23 Raymond D. Knight 1897 1899 Democratic 24 J. E. T. Bowden 1899 1901 Democratic 25 Duncan U. Fletcher 1901 1903 Democratic 26 George M. Nolan 1903 1906 Democratic 27 William H. Baker 1906 1907 Democratic 28 William H. Sebring 1907 1909 Democratic 29 William S. Jordan 1909 1913 Democratic 30 Van C. Swearingen 1913 1915 Democratic 31 J. E. T. Bowden 1915 1917 Democratic 32 John W. Martin 1917 1923 Democratic 32 John T. Alsop, Jr. 1923 1937 Democratic 32 George C. Blume 1937 1941 Democratic 33 John T. Alsop, Jr. 1941 1945 Democratic 34 Frank Whitehead 1945 1949 Democratic 35 W. Haydon Burns 1949 1965 Democratic 36 Lou Ritter 1965 1967 Democratic 37 Hans Tanzler 1967 1968 Democratic

Consolidated city mayors # Name Took office Left office Party 1 Hans Tanzler March 1, 1968 January 1, 1979 Democratic 2 Jake Godbold January 1, 1979 July 1, 1987 Democratic 3 Tommy Hazouri July 1, 1987 July 1, 1991 Democratic 4 Ed AustinEd Austin, Jr. campaigned and was elected as a Democrat, but during his term as mayor he changed his party affiliation to Republican.July 1, 19911993 Democratic 1993 July 1, 1995Republican 5 John Delaney July 1, 1995 July 1, 2003 Republican 6 John Peyton July 1, 2003 July 1, 2011 Republican 7 Alvin Brown July 1, 2011 July 1, 2015 Democratic 8 Lenny Curry July 1, 2015 July 1, 2023 Republican 9 Donna Deegan July 1, 2023 present Democratic

See also Timeline of Jacksonville, Florida

References